The Detroit Lions dismantled the Chicago Bears in Week 2, 52-12, leveling their season record to 1-1. Let’s take a closer look at the Lions’ snap counts to see what we can divulge from their personnel usage that may have led to this rapid return to success.
Quarterbacks:
- Jared Goff: 56 snaps (95%)
- Kyle Allen: 3 (5%)
Goff was masterful in his Ford Field debut this season, completing 23 of 28 passing attempts for 334 yards, five touchdowns, and a near-perfect passer rating (156.0). With the game in hand, the Lions turned to their backups for the final offensive
series, with Allen running three clock-draining snaps.
Running backs:
- Jahmyr Gibbs: 33 (56%)
- David Montgomery: 23 (39%)
- Craig Reynolds: 3 (5%) — 19 special teams snaps (59%)
- Jacob Saylors: 0 (0%) — 19 (59%)
- Sione Vaki: Inactive (injury)
The running back splits continue to favor Gibbs, but not as drastically as they did in Week 1. Some of that is likely due to game situations, but there is also a ‘Montgomery getting opportunities against his old team’ factor to consider. Reynolds ran the ball on all three of his offensive snaps as the Lions worked to get to the end of the game.
Saylors didn’t see any snaps on offense, and he didn’t have a return on kickoffs, but he did make one of the best special teams plays of the day, helping to make sure the Bears’ opening kickoff went out of bounds and thus giving the Lions offense great starting field position. Five plays later, the Lions were up 7-0.
Wide receivers:
- Jameson Williams: 52 (88%)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 50 (85%) — 1 (3%)
- Kalif Raymond: 32 (54%) — 5 (16%)
- Isaac TeSlaa: 17 (29%) — 8 (25%)
- Dominic Lovett: 3 (5%)
With TeSlaa full go—after being limited in Week 1 due to an illness—his snaps increased from three to 17, and as expected, they came from Raymond’s pool of snaps. TeSlaa was heavily used as a blocker, but he also made his second catch of the season, another one-handed masterpiece that set up Amon-Ra St. Brown’s first of three touchdowns on the day. Both St. Brown and Williams went over 100 yards receiving, and each had at least one touchdown.
Tight ends:
- Sam LaPorta: 50 (85%) — 1 (3%)
- Brock Wright: 31 (53%) — 16 (50%)
- Shane Zylstra: 0 (0%) — 3 (9%)
LaPorta and Wright each caught three passes for 26 and 28 yards, respectively, but their splits were as expected. Zylstra was injured early in the game on special teams, was carted to the field, and was spotted in the locker room in a walking boot. Hopefully, we’ll get an update on his status on Monday.
Offensive line:
- Christian Mahogany: 59 (100%) — 9 (28%)
- Tate Ratledge: 59 (100%) — 9 (28%)
- Penei Sewell: 56 (95%) — 9 (28%)
- Taylor Decker: 56 (95%)
- Graham Glasgow: 56 (95%)
- Kayode Awosika: 4 (7%) — 9 (28%)
- Giovanni Manu: 3 (5%) — 9 (28%)
- Kingsley Eguakun: 3 (5%) — 9 (28%)
The Lions’ offensive line returned to form against the Bears, with their starting five looking confident and determined. On the ground, they helped their running backs gain an average of 3.55 yards before contact (best in the NFL in Week 2), and they didn’t allow a sack in the passing game.
When it was time to pull the starters—because they only had eight offensive linemen dressed for the game—two starters needed to play with the reserves, and the two young guards pulled extra duty. Of note, Manu played his first offensive snaps of his NFL career, all coming at left tackle, while Eguakun manned the pivot, and Awosika took over at right tackle.
Defensive end:
- Aidan Hutchinson: 57 (84%)
- Al-Quadin Muhammad: 36 (53%) — 9 (28%)
- Marcus Davenport: 23 (34%) — 3 (9%)
- Pat O’Connor: 21 (31%) — 24 (75%)
- Tyrus Wheat: Inactive
Hutchinson, Davenport, and O’Connor saw all their snaps on the edge for the second week in a row, with the starters seeing traditional defensive end reps, and O’Connor at the 4i. With Hutchinson appearing to be working through some discomfort, and Davenport exiting the field with two separate injuries, Muhammad was called upon to fill in the gaps on the edge. With Muhammed needing to rep more on the outside, he only saw two snaps inside this week.
Defensive tackle:
- Mekhi Wingo: 37 (54%)
- Roy Lopez: 31 (46%) — 3 (9%)
- Tyleik Williams: 25 (37%) — 2 (6%)
- DJ Reader: 24 (35%)
- Tyler Lacy: Inactive
- Chris Smith: Inactive
The interior defensive line saw a complete flip in opportunities from Week 1 to Week 2. After leading the interior in snaps in Week 1, Reader’s snaps were scaled back significantly (less than half the previous week’s percentage), and he checked it at a reasonable pace in order to maximize his effectiveness. Williams saw his snaps decline from 35 to 24, but it certainly wasn’t because of his lack of production. Williams made the most of his opportunities and was arguably the key component in both the Lions’ fourth down stops—submarining the Caleb Williams quarterback sneak attempt and knocking down a Williams passing attempt. Lopez saw his snaps increase from 17 to 31 as he allowed Reader to get some snaps off, while Wingo went from inactive in Week 1 to leading the interior defensive line in opportunities in Week 2. Wingo brings passing juice to the Lions’ interior, something that has been missing while Alim McNeill is recovering from an ACL tear. While Wingo isn’t going to break into the starting lineup, expect him to see chunks of snaps moving forward.
Linebacker:
- Jack Campbell: 60 (88%) — 4 (12%)
- Alex Anzalone: 60 (88%) — 1 (3%)
- Derrick Barnes: 53 (78%) — 16 (50%)
- Zach Cunningham: 9 (13%) — 19 (59%)
- Grant Stuard: 6 (9%) — 23 (72%)
- Monty Rice: 0 (0%) — 19 (59%)
- Trevor Nowaske: Inactive (injury)
The Lions continue to use three linebackers at a blistering pace, well ahead of the league average. Campbell and Anzalone are their base off-ball linebackers, while Barnes is the versatile chess piece that defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard uses in a multitude of ways. Cunningham and Stuard got reps late in the game once the starters were pulled.
Cornerback:
- Terrion Arnold: 60 (88%) — 1 (3%)
- D.J. Reed: 60 (88%)
- Amik Robertson: 34 (50%)
- Khalil Dorsey: 8 (12%) — 16 (50%)
- Rock Ya-Sin: 8 (12%) — 11 (34%)
After not using much nickel against the Packers in Week 1, the Lions turned to Robertson to give them a lot more snaps in Week 2, with the Lions spending half their defensive snaps with five defensive backs on the field. Dorsey and Ya-Sin got reps on the outside after the starters were pulled.
Safety:
- Brian Branch: 59 (87%) — 4 (12%)
- Kerby Joseph: 48 (71%) — 2 (6%)
- Avonte Maddox: 20 (29%) — 8 (25%)
- Daniel Thomas: 9 (13%) — 18 (56%)
- Thomas Harper: Inactive
After not seeing any reps in week 1, Maddox shifted away from his reserve nickel role and into a reserve safety role, helping take some of the stress off Joseph, who entered the game with a knee injury. Branch missed one expected snap due to cramping and then exited with the starters, making way for Thomas to get his first defensive snaps since arriving in Detroit.
Specialists:
- Jake Bates: 18 (56%)
- Jack Fox: 12 (38%)
- Hogan Hatten: 12 (38%)
Bates missed a 55-yard field goal and placed a kickoff short of the landing zone, but beyond that, the Lions’ special teams looked improved from last week.
